Summary

The Foundations of Epidemiology is an introductory level text intended for a broad range of courses in epidemiology, including those in medical schools, schools of public health, dental schools, schools of nursing, and other professional schools. Minimal familiarity with statistics is assumed in the book, although the text is not intended as a primary introduction to statistics; an appendix provides the necessary overview of statistics necessary to understand epidemiologic concepts, including sampling, significance testing, confidence intervals, correlation and linear regression, relative risks and attributable fractions, the life table, and Cohen's Kappa statistic. Basic epidemiologic concepts, such as rates and ratios, age adjustment, incubation periods, investigation of an outbreak time-place-and person, agent-value, inter- and intra-observer variability, odds ratios, randomized trials, and cohort and case-control study designs are illustrated using examples from a variety of conditions, including asthma, food poisoning, coronary heart disease, measles, stroke, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, venous thrombosis, histoplasmosis, lyme disease, and AIDS. The text consists of 13 chapters, each of which includes study problems and solutions. A discussion of the uses of epidemiology in clinical settings includes a guide to the critical review of medical and related literature.